The Plan, Purpose and Providence of God

It's a very great honor to be here and to be able to speak to all of you. Back in the days of Douglas MacArthur, MacArthur gave his farewell speech in May of 1962 at West Point in which he said, Old soldiers never die, they just fade away. Well, I came here to check on you old folks to see how you are doing. My wife and I celebrated our 67th wedding anniversary on April 28th.

So it is a great honor and pleasure to be here once again. MacArthur said, Old soldiers just fade away, but Moses is dead, Abraham is dead, David is dead, the prophets are dead, the apostles are dead, and a lot of people have gone before they're dead, but they haven't faded away.

They will live in resurrection. That's one of the things we'll be talking about here today. So let's stand and I'll ask a blessing on the meeting today. Our Father in Heaven, our Great God and Creator, we come before you to give you thanks for the blessings you give us. We thank you, Father, for the precious gift of life and the promise of eternal life in your kingdom.

So, Father, we are very grateful that you reveal yourself to us through your word, your spirit, and your Son, Jesus Christ. And we're here because, Father, you have chosen us, you've called us out of this world, and we have accepted that call and we're on the path toward eternal life.

And, Father, we are mindful of the world conditions. You know, of course, we all know what's going on in this world, and we're very troubled by that. And, Father, we know that we have a great refuge in you and in the Word of God. So, Father, we're thankful for each person that has committed to your way that is here today. We would be mindful of your servant, Gary Antion, who is in the hospital. And Gary has, he's a person, I know firsthand, that has a generous spirit, a great giving heart, and also an oven, excellent spirit.

So, we ask your blessing upon him and for his healing at this time. And, Father, we ask that you would be with all those who have cried for your help around the world today. So, we commit this time into your hands and ask your blessing upon it and give you thanks again in Christ's name. Amen. So, please be seated, everyone. Good to be here. We could give this Bible study several different titles, but I've given it the title of the plan, the purpose, and the providence of God.

I begin today with the same question that I asked the students at Ambassador University when I was teaching fundamentals of theology or at ABC. What is the great theme of the Bible? What is the greatest theme of the Bible? Well, the students respond with different answers. God is love. God is merciful. God is long-suffering. Of course, all of which are true. There are elements of salvation. But the theme of the book, the book of God and Christ, are bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family.

This is the essential thread of the Bible. The Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 1, verse 12, will read that. 1 Peter 1, verse 12, Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them. So I know I'm preaching to the choir here today, and you know basically everything that I'm going to say and more. But we are commanded to put everyone in remembrance of these things and be established in the present truth. Yes, I think it fitting, as long as I am in this tabernacle or in the flesh, to stir you up in putting you in remembrance.

So my purpose here today and my goal is to put you in remembrance of these things and beseech you and stir you up so you will alight yourself and set your congregations on fire. So that's what we want to do. We want to set those congregations on fire through our passion, through our enthusiasm for the Word of God. There are two convicting agents I talk about all the time. In the Bible we go to the Gospel of John in chapter 16 and verse 8. John 16 and verse 8. We spend a lot of time in turning to Scriptures, but that's one of the things we need to do in some cases. I'll be paraphrasing some things.

In John 16.8, well let's read 7. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away for if I go not away, the comforter, and the comforter is identified in John 14.26 as the Holy Spirit. And in John 15.26 it says the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father. Christ has a role in sending the Holy Spirit, I will not send, unless I go away, I will not send the comforter to you. If I depart, I will send it to you or him following the rules of grammar.

And when it has come, it will reprove. And I want to focus on that word, reprove. That word in Greek is elencho, E-L-E-G-C-H-O. And it means to convict. Some translations will say convince. We want to preach messages that convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment. So one convicting agent, of course, is the Holy Spirit. And then the second is Romans 10 and verse 14. In Romans 10 verse 14, Paul says, how can they hear without a preacher? And how can he preach unless he be sent? He goes on to talk about how beautiful are those that preach the glad tidings of peace.

So those two things working in concert, the Spirit of God, the Word of God. Then in Romans 10 and verse 17, Paul says, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So those two things, the Spirit of God, the Word of God, they are the convicting agents. And Christ states in John 6, 63, the words I speak, they are spirit and they are life.

He perceives that. He says, the flesh profits nothing but the words that I speak, they are spirit and they are life. In 2 Timothy chapter 3, the verse, first five verses, I'm not going to read that. I'm sure that many of you have given sermons on those first five verses, the world conditions, showing the behaviors that are extant at that time and in the world today. In view of that chapter in 2 Timothy chapter 4, once again we come back to this word, a lincho, to convict.

And here in 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse 2, Paul writing to Timothy says, preach the Word, preach the Word, reprove. And that word, prove and reprove in the Greek is a lincho. It means to convict. And he goes on to say, rebuke, it means to admonish, to charge sharply, and exhort, to entreat, to beseech, with all long-suffering and doctrine. So that is one of the things that we are here to do, is to stir each other up so that we will be able to give those kind of messages. He goes on to say in verse 4, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.

And with itching years of their own lust, they'll turn to fables, a paraphrasing as I will paraphrase some scriptures. So now is the time for us to do the same. That is to preach the Word. We need to deliver convicting, challenging, and compulsive.

Compulsive, I put that word in there as another 3C of mine, challenging, convicting, compulsive, but they are so convicted that they want to do something about the conviction. A weight has been laid upon their mind, upon their heart. They want to do something more than just be a hearer. So now is the time for us to do the same.

We need to deliver those kind of messages that causes people to search the scriptures whether these things be true. Get back to the Word of God. And I know that there are many very helpful sermons that are being given today, a lot of them on Christian living. One of the things that I would say that we could all improve on is our zeal, our passion. Our zeal and our passion. You know, Jesus Christ says at one point in the New Testament that the zeal of your house is eating me up. I'm on fire with the zeal, and the great prophecy that Isaiah gives in Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 and 7, where the Virgin shall conceive, bring forth a child.

He'll be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. And then it closes in verse 7 with saying, and the zeal of God will perform it. He will make sure that it's carried out. That is the plan, the purpose, the providence of God will be carried out.

He will make sure of that. So a lot of our preaching is directed to the brethren, and that is good up to a certain point. And we give, and as I said, we give us some very helpful sermons. In addition to that, we need to focus our mission continually and remind the brethren of the great plan, purpose, and providence of God. We see a world in which technology is running wild, and some are warning that artificial intelligence may be the greatest instrument that humanity will face in the future. Leon Musk has spoken to that in recent times. The humans are searching for meaning, for hope in their lives. In surveys of youth, the youth are saying, we want to hear a verse-by-verse exposition of the Scripture.

Enough of what is going on in the world, we want to hear the Word of God. Of course, we need to relate it to what is happening in the world as well. When all is said and done, what are people most concerned about? I know what I was most concerned about. One of the things that we had, even though we were poor growing up, we had two books.

We had the Bible inside. We had the Siri Roebuck catalog outside. And that's the only two books I had until I started school. But we had, they bought a radio. And as a child, I began to surf the channels. I call them channel stations.

At that time, AM stations. And you could get some of the far away. When the sun was going down, you could get some of the far away stations all the way to Cincinnati, Ohio to Nashville to the Mexican stations and so on. And eventually, I came across the world tomorrow.

And I was convicted almost immediately by the messages that I heard. And when I got that booklet in my hand and understood why we are born, it made all the difference in the world in my life. So the great plan, the purpose, the providence of God, answers those questions of why we are born, why we're here.

We need to answer the great questions of life and through the Spirit and Word of God, preach the plan, the purpose, and providence of God. The minute we'll talk more about providence of God. And teaching fundamentals of theology, after asking students what is the theme of the book, God is bringing sons and daughters of glory in his family, and God and Christ are very zealous to bring that to fruition.

I asked the class, what is the first article of faith? Hebrews 6 answers what is the first article of faith, and it also introduces what I call the seven great questions of life. The first question is, if you look at Hebrews 11 and verse 6, and we'll read it there, Hebrews 11 verse 6 says, he who would come to God must first of all believe that he is, so to believe that God exists, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

So the first article of faith is to believe that God exists, and we're living in an increasingly secular world, as we all know and we all hear about consistently. There are several questions, several scriptures in the Bible that answers the questions about the existence of God. And the other questions, who is God? Well, God is our Father. In Isaiah 63 and verse 16, Isaiah 63, 16, a verse we don't read very often, it says, though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not, you are our Redeemer, you are our Father.

And then Isaiah 64 and verse 8, just across the page there, it says, you are our Father, and doubtless you are our Father, and we are the clay. So God is our Father. So what is God? God is Spirit.

John 4.24 makes it clear, God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. And the corollary to those questions relates to man.

What is the great purpose of God, which we have said, bringing sons and daughters to glory in his family? And the corollary to that is, who is man? Well, man was created by God, made in the image of God. We know that all things were created through Christ, that Christ created us in the image of God with faculties akin to God. We can think, we can reason, we can even contemplate eternal life, what's going to be in the life hereafter, and so on.

And then, what is man? Man is made from the dust of the ground, and he was made subject to sin and death. But what is man's great purpose? Man's great purpose is to become a glorious radiant spirit being in the kingdom of God. So we need to consistently teach the core teachings, and we'll have more about that as we go along. A person could sit in services for years and never hear the core teachings of the gospel. By that, I mean the plan, the purpose, and so on, of God. And perhaps apart from baptismal counseling, never hear dedicated sermons on the plan, purpose, and providence of God, and the begettle and birth process leading to being a glorious, radiant spirit being in the kingdom of God. So I call these teachings that we're reviewing here today the core teachings, and some might call them the trunk of the tree. Jesus preached that message when Jesus came on the scene, Mark 115. He came after John was put in prison saying, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. And I would say that the theme of Jesus and the apostles' teaching was and is the kingdom of God and all its elements. And what I'm referring to is the same teaching that Jesus and the apostles taught. It is what we refer to in the book of Jude where it says, return to the faith once delivered from the Bible, from the Word of God. And it is the meaning of that message that has brought us here today. We wouldn't be sitting here today if we had not heard that message. We did not have an understanding of why we were born. We need to distinguish the teachings of the religions of the world from the teachings of the Church of God. So distinguish between the teachings of this religious world and the Church of God. So what are some of the core teachings that distinguish the Church of God from the world's religions? The nature of God. God is not a trinity.

You know, God is a being. Jesus Christ is a being. And we shall be sons and daughters beings with identity in the kingdom of God. I know back when the doctrinal discussions were taking place in the early 90s, and I was on the doctrine committee there in Pasadena, and the Greek scholar wrote a paper saying that the spirit cannot be divided. And so to talk about individual entities is not correct. I said, I guess in the kingdom of God we'll just be blips on God's great radar screen, you know, as you go across. But that's not the case. We shall have our individual identities in the kingdom of God. And we shall be on the plane of existence as God.

They don't understand that the Holy Spirit is not a person. God is spirit. That is His essence. And God, you know, you can answer that question very simply. God, can God be separated from His spirit? That's what He is. Can you be separated from your flesh?

Well, some might say, my soul will fly away one glad day, but we know that you cannot be separated from your flesh and sustain life. Christ cannot be separated from His spirit. The Holy Spirit is under the direction of God in Christ. In Genesis 1-2, it says, He sends forth His spirit. There are other verses that talk about God sending forth His spirit. In Zechariah 4 and verse 6, you know, it took quite a long time in the church for us to, we would say at times, Holy Spirit's power of God. The Holy Spirit's power of God.

Well, the Holy Spirit is the essence of God. That's what He is. He is spirit.

And then in Zechariah 4 and 6, it says that, not by power, not by might, but through my spirit, says the eternal of hosts. So God does mighty works through His spirit.

Another great difference that God had consists of the Father and the Son and those who are born into the family of God through the resurrection from the dead. They do not understand the resurrection from the dead. They don't understand what we shall be in the kingdom of God.

Back in the early 90s, somewhere along in there, maybe it was 95, 94, 95, I think I was still at the college, I was invited to a seminar in Hartford, Connecticut. We had Samuel Bakki-Okki, and of course he's the author of from Sabbath to Sunday. And then we had a Jewish rabbi who had, messianic rabbi who had degrees from Harvard and Yale. We had a pastor of a church of God seventh day, and we had a another pastor there. And I gave a presentation on the nature of God, and after it was over, the Jewish rabbi rushed up and he said, well, I'd like to hear more about what we're going to be in the kingdom of God. And I said, if you ever considered, or I asked, how do you consider the resurrected Christ? He said, he turned his head, he thought for a moment, he said, well, frankly, I've never considered the matter. So those, I don't know of any religious group that really understands the begettle and birth process that we go through in becoming members of the family of God. Other things we need to distinguish. Man does not have an immortal soul. Upon death, humans do not immediately go to heaven or Yihan of Fire. And this one, once again, what we shall be in the kingdom of God. We're going to be on the God plane of existence in the kingdom of God. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. That's Romans 8 and verse 17. We are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

Another great difference, the spiritual law, has not been done away with.

Another one, the Seventh-day Sabbath and the Holy Days, are to be kept in all ages.

We know from Zechariah 14 about the millennium, and if you don't go up to the Feast of Tabernacles, what happens? Faith and obedience are extricably, inextricably linked together. You can't have one without the other. You can't have faith without obedience. And basically, you can't really obey without faith. Faith and obedience are inextricably linked together.

And the conversion process of begettle and of birth, they just talk about only belief.

Brethren, these are things that are bedrock that we need to emphasize.

Regardless as to how learned and no matter what their title is, the scholars, the ministers, the religious leaders of this world assume that God is a Trinity, that the Holy Spirit is a person, that humans have an immortal soul, that upon death persons go immediately to heaven or Gehenna fire, and there's much more that we've already noted. They begin without assumption.

They don't try to prove it or disprove it. It's just assumed that that is the case. And they are apologists to justify their position. We should be writing the commentaries and leading the way. Just as the religious leaders of the day hated Jesus Christ for his doctrine, for his teaching, they hate the truth of the Church of God. Jesus says in John 15, verses 18 and 19, if they hated me, they will also hate you. They hate you because you stand for the truth of God. If we don't distinguish ourselves from the doctrines of the world, we will lose our reason for being. Our raison d'etre, as the French call it, our reason for being.

The Apostle Paul writes—and we should all have this scripture at least the last part of it memorized— in 1 Timothy 3.15, Paul writes, The Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth. The Church of God is the pillar and ground of the truth.

If we don't teach the precious truths we hold near and dear, who will? The answer is no one will.

No one will teach him. We need to stand in the gap. Make up the hedge, as Ezekiel cries out in Ezekiel 22, verse 30. He says, I look for a man to stand in the gap. Make up the hedge, but I've found none. That should not be said of us. We need to consistently teach the core teachings of scripture. As previously noted, a person could sit in services for years and never hear dedicated sermons on each one of these topics. Of course, you could give a sermon, a series of sermons, most everything that I'm addressing here today.

Now, let's focus more directly on the Begettle and Birth process.

God created the angelic realm, whom he called the sons of God, but they are not begotten and born sons of God. If you turn to Hebrews chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, Hebrews chapter 1, verses 4 and 5.

Being made so much better than the angel speaking of Christ, he has obtained, he hath by inheritance obtained, a more excellent name than they. Unto which of the angels said he at any time, you are my son, this day have I begotten you? He never did. They were not begotten.

They were created to whatever state. So, to which of them he said at any time, and again, I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. And then we see the purpose of angels is given there.

In verses 13 and 14, ministering servants sent to the heirs of salvation there to help us, and God's Christ zeal to bring us into the kingdom of God.

So, angels were given free will. They could go, they could follow God and become their character set, or they could choose to obey Satan, which a third of them did, as we know from Revelation 12.

When all is said and done, the culture wars of today are based on destroying the nuclear family, male, female, marriage, children who are potential sons of God. Now, God created human beings after he created the angelic realm, and they were created beings initially. And we'll talk about the great transition that takes place with human beings. But human beings were created with the potential of becoming begotten and born in the family of God.

God and the one who became Jesus Christ created within humans the biological means through which they could reproduce and bring forth potential sons and daughters of God.

Satan now, of course, is attacking the family. The world's institutions have gone through various cycles, and with each change in social structure, the families and the birth rate are affected.

Some countries are predicted that if the birth rate continues the way it is, there will be no native people in that country, or very few, to carry out the leadership responsibilities of that country. The roles of husband, wife, roles of father, mother, the roles of children have been turned upside down. But God is consistent.

The structure of the family is given clearly in 1 Corinthians 11, verses 1-4, where Paul writes that God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, man is the head of woman, and, of course, children are to be obedient to their fathers and their mothers.

So we can readily see from Scripture, at least we should, the vital steps in the plan of salvation hinge on begettle and birth. God's plan of salvation closely parallels that of reproduction in the family unit.

But God and Christ, they exist apart from begettle and birth in one sense, initially. Of course, Jesus Christ has now become the firstborn among many brethren, as we'll note later. God and the Word exist in eternity. In Hebrews 7, verses 1-3, and especially 3, we note that without father, without mother, without descent, without beginning or end of days, abides one continually after the order of Melchizedek. So God and Christ exist in eternity. They are co-eternal. They are co-essential, what theologians call co-essential. That means they are the same essence. There is one Spirit. Ephesians 4-4 says, there is one Spirit.

And in 1 Corinthians 12, verse 13, Paul says that we are all baptized in the Body of Christ by one Spirit. The same Spirit that is in God, is in Christ, is in each one of you.

That is the Holy Spirit within you.

We've already noted, I don't think we have read that scripture yet, but in 2 Timothy chapter 1, it talks about the plan and purpose of God was ordained before time began.

And we're very well rehearsed in that. Let's turn to 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20, with regard to how old the plan of salvation is.

In 1 Peter chapter 1, and we'll begin in verse 20. 1 Peter chapter 3. Well, I said 1 Peter chapter 1. Sorry. 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 20.

Who verily was foreordained, and foreordained in the Greek means, it's prokonosko means to know beforehand, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. Who by him we do believe in God, and who raised him from the dead time after time. In the New Testament, it talks about Christ being resurrected and born from the dead, and gave him glory that your faith and hope might be in God. So the plan of salvation is an ancient plan. It's been there from before, the foundation of the world. Jesus Christ was slain from the foundation of the world, as it says in Revelation chapter 12 and verse 8. No, it's 13 and verse 8. So the God being called the word agreed to be the first begotten and become the firstborn among many brethren. No being has sacrificed as much as Jesus Christ did in becoming the sacrifice for the sins of the world. God and Christ cannot stand arrogance. They cannot stand egotism. They cannot stand self-promotion because God and Jesus Christ have given so much.

If we go now to Philippians chapter 2, we will note how much Jesus Christ has given.

Philippians chapter 2 and verse 5.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.

Now, what was that mind? There's a colon there. It means more to follow. Who being in the form of God. The word being, hypercho, it's really who-p-ar-co, really means to exist. Who being in the form of God, more of God, thought it not robbery or pogmos, the thing to be seized, to be equal with God.

But made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of man. So we want to focus again there where it says in verse 6, to be. That means the word there is ianai, i-n-a-i-a, i. I-ianai means to exist. So existing in the form of God. So what God in Christ gave up was incomprehensible to the human mind of what they gave up for them to launch the great plan of salvation. As we have noted earlier, believers are baptized by one Spirit in the body of Christ into the Church of God. He is our Father, as we have noted from Isaiah 63 verse 16 and Isaiah 64 verse 8. But now we go to James chapter 1 where we see in the New Testament that of his own will beget he us with the word of truth. So we're turning to James chapter 1, James chapter 1, and beginning with verse 17.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no wearableness neither shadow of turning. Of his own will beget he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits for his or of his creatures. So it is a Father who gets us Christ playing a role. The Church figuratively is called our mother in Galatians 4.26. It says, Jerusalem above, the mother of all. So it is in the Church where we are nourished and brought to birth. God is our Father, Christ is our elder brother.

Turn back now a few pages to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 8. We say in prayers oftentimes, so we use the term elder brother. Is that biblical? Yes, it is. Because we the same spirit that is in God is in Christ is in us. In Hebrews chapter 2, verse 8, you have put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all things under him. He's not yet put all things under him. Eventually there will be nothing that is not under him. But now we see not everything under him. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels.

For the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him of whom are all things, and by whom are all things, and bringing sons, and I would add sons and daughters, under glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. That both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one. And once again, the same spirit that's in God is in Christ is in us.

And he is not ashamed to call them brethren.

I don't think we can quote Romans 8.14-3.17 enough. Let's turn back there to Romans 8, verse 14.

In Romans 8, verse 14, Paul writing once again to the Romans, to the church in Rome, 8.14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We are sons of God. We are literal sons of God. We are not adopted. We are sons of God. We are of the same essence.

For you have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship. That word, weotheia, in the Greek, it literally means sonship. You can look it up.

Whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God. And if children, then heirs of God, joined heirs with Jesus Christ. Note it. We are heirs of God and joined heirs with Jesus Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together. And then in verse 29, which we will refer to again and again, Romans 8.29, for whom He did foreknow also, He did pre-nestinate to be conformed to the image of His son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. So there are more to come. Hopefully you and I will be there. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead shows that the soul of humans represents life potential. You may never have thought of this in exactly this way. Remember what Matthew 10-28 says, fear not Him who is able to destroy the body only, but fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in ye hunt a fire. And we know from the last verse in Revelation 20 that those who are cast in the lake of fire experienced the second death from which there is no resurrection. So God is the one who has that prerogative to take away both the physical body and life potential. So God is the only one who can take that life potential from us. Let's go now to Acts chapter 2 and verse 29, part of the inspired sermon that Peter gave on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter 2 and verse 29. Acts 2-29, where he is quoting David, men and brethren let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loans according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. He, seeing this before, spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul, his life potential, remember before Christ died, he cried out, Father, in your hands command I you my spirit. Having said that, he gave up the spirit and he died. That his life potential, his soul, was not left in the grave Hades, and his flesh did not see corruption. So we see here that the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead proves the futility of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul in the sense that it even says that his soul, that means his life potential, was not left in the grave, and we are to fear only the one who can take away both. The resurrection completes, in a sense, the mystery of God. In Revelation 10 and verse 7 it says, when the seventh angel begins to sound, the mystery of God would be finished. What is the mystery of God? How that God can take fleshly human beings and make them into the very essence of God and Christ.

See, when God and Christ planned out the plan of salvation, what was the great challenge before them? The great challenge was how can you take created beings and then for them to eventually be born into the kingdom of God? You see, angels were created beings. They were not begotten, not born. And so they decided on this great plan of salvation. As we read from Philippians, Jesus Christ gave up his, he gave up his being, his glory there with the Father, but he did not give up his divinity. He was still God in the flesh. And of course, he humbled himself in the way that we've read that no man has ever done before. And so the ingeniousness of this plan of salvation defies human comprehension. It is so wonderful. It is so great. It is so magnificent.

And that's once again when I said God hates pomposity and anything that has to do with boasting of one's own self, because look what Jesus Christ gave up in becoming our Savior. So Jesus Christ eventually was begotten by the Father, as it says in Luke, that the Holy Spirit will come upon you and that thing which is conceived in you is of the Holy Spirit.

So Jesus became the first begotten from, he became the first begotten Son of God.

Back when the doctrinal wars were being waged in the Church of God in the early 90s, some of those that Tom off have said, well, they call it headquarters, said, you cannot be on the God plane because you are a created being. And then I wrote to them with several scriptures showing how that as resurrected beings we will be on the God plane.

I wrote them showing from scripture that upon begatling birth, we are of the eternal essence of God. And this understanding is critical that we are of that same essence and we are born into the family of God. And that means that we are on the same plane of existence. And as we have read from Romans chapter 8 that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

Believers will go through the same process as Jesus went through in being begotten and born into kingdom of God. The saints are joint heirs with Jesus Christ and on the same plane of existence.

And Jesus became the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. So we look at Romans chapter 1 and Romans chapter 1. We see this that it is by the resurrection from the dead that Jesus now is the Son of God. In Romans chapter 3, Romans chapter 1 verse 3, Romans chapter 1 verse 3, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness. How?

By the resurrection from the dead. So the resurrection from the dead is equated with birth into the family of God. So over and over again we see the ingeniousness of the plan of God in Christ and the providence of God in Christ. The providence of God in Christ, the providence is that God is looking out in common language. God is looking out for our best interests years in advance. So as we mentioned earlier, the great plan of salvation was ordered and developed before the foundation of the world, before the angelic realm was created, before the human beings were created. And God in Christ was very zealous with regard to being committed to bringing that plan to fruition. So they're looking out for our best interests at heart years in advance. So those who are dying in the faith or those who are alive when Christ comes are going to be suddenly changed. Now we go to Psalm chapter 2. David understood this resurrection long, long ago. David circa 1000 BC writing in Psalm chapter 2.

In verse 7. In Psalm chapter 2 and verse 7. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said unto me, You art my Son. This day have I begotten you. Now that word begotten in the Hebrew is jalad. Y-a-l-a-d. And it means it's the equivalent of genao in the New Testament.

Jalad, when spoken of the father, basically means to be yet. When spoken of the mother, means to bring forth. And so the Apostle Paul quotes this in his inspired sermon.

There are at least three inspired sermons in the book of Acts. So we go to Acts 13 of Acts now, chapter 13 and verse 29. See, we got about three minutes left in Acts 13 and verse 29.

And when they had fulfilled that which was written of him, they took him down from the tree and hid him in a sepulcher. But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen of many that came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. And we declare unto you glad tidings how that the promise which he made unto the fathers. God had fulfilled the same unto us their children in that he has raised up Jesus again as it is written in the second psalm which we read. Psalm 2.7. You art my Son, this day have I, in this case, brought you to birth. And Jesus Christ is the firstborn among many brethren. Jerusalem above is the mother of us all, as she prevails in birth until we are brought forth. Now let's go to Hebrews 12. In Hebrews 12 in verse 19. I remind you what the book of Hebrews is all about. Hebrews compares and contrasts elements of the Old Covenant with elements of the New Covenant. In Hebrews 12, Paul is comparing Sinai with Mount Zion. In verse 20, for they cannot endear that which was commanded at Sinai, if so much the beast touched the mountain they would be stoned or thrust through with the dark. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly fear and quake. But you're coming to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to the innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect. So symbolically we are Zion. Now we're going to go to Psalm 87 and we will close with this. In Psalm 87, we know that we've seen this hymn quite often, glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God. Do we know that we're singing about ourselves when we sing this hymn?

Psalm 87, his foundation is in the holy mountain. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob. Jacob often times refers to Israel in the flesh. We are the Israel of God.

Glorious things of thee are spoken, O city of God, which is the city of God, Zion.

I will make mention of Rahab, Babylon, and them that know me. Behold, Philistia, Tyre, Ethiopia, this man was born there where? And Zion, and of Zion it shall be said, this and that man was born in her, and the highest himself establishes her. The Lord shall count when he writes up the people that this man was born there. Where? Zion. The church of God. People are scattered all over the face of the earth. Some have been burned. Some are drowned. Some are in the ocean. Some are all over. But God is going to resurrect them, and we're going to come to physical Zion, and we are going to declare the law and the prophets. Thank you very much. Enjoy being with you this time.

Our time is up, so we must go. One announcement.